Apostles Church

We are currently going through Paul's Letter to the Church in Ephesus as a church. We have certainly had a great start exploring some of the rich themes in the letter. On Sunday, May 3, I tackled one of the most challenging and unnecessarily divisive teachings that are in the Scripture - the Doctrine of Election. When this topic arises in the text, people automatically choose sides and shuffle into their theological camps, which need not be so. At Apostles we keep the main thing the main thing: God is healing all of creation in Jesus. Jesus died and rose to reconcile us sinners to God and create in himself a new community of faith, hope and love that shares and lives out his mission to the world. This is what we are about at Apostles. We want to be a people faithful to Jesus and to one another and to the mission he has invited us to be a part of. We are spiritually formed as a people by the Spirit with the Word in the context of community, and therefore, we are committed to learning God's word together in community. That commitment often leads us to some difficult texts that are profitable for our spiritual formation (2 Timothy 3:16). As we began our series we were instantly confronted with these verses:

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved." Ephesians 1.3-7 (ESV).

The Scriptures clearly teach that all who come to faith in Jesus do so because God has chosen and predestined them for this. If you missed the sermon on that passage, you can listen here.

At the end of the message, I fielded several questions from our congregation at both locations. I also told our people that I would write a small article covering some of the other questions. I had no idea so many questions would be submitted. This article is a response to some of those questions. Here is where we are headed. I will define what the doctrine of election is and then I will break down the questions into three categories: philosophical/theological, practical, and pastoral.  I will not answer every question or objection but should give enough coverage and resources to keep you busy for a little while. Again, I want to reiterate, this is not our first foot forward at Apostles. We are focused not on having theological discussions that can lead to division. What we are about is sharing the message and mercy of Christ with all people in hopes of seeing all things renewed with the Gospel. We can rally around that, loving Jesus and serving our city in his name, even if we disagree on how these passages should be interpreted. You may have a different take on them; agreement on this issue is not a test of fellowship or the key to community. Let's all keep that in mind and refuse to let our pride and need to be right keep us from loving each other and serving God's purpose for our city.

What is the Doctrine of Election?

Dr. Wayne Grudem, author of Systematic Theology, defines election as follows: Election is an act of God before creation in which he chooses some people to be saved, not on account of any foreseen merit in them, but only because of his sovereign good pleasure.Wayne Grudem. (Systematic Theology, page 670.)  The key here is that God is the initiator of our salvation and he loves and saves people not because of anything in them or anything foreseen in them. Salvation is of God and it is rooted solely in his gracious nature to save. Several others passages affirm this teaching. The following is a non exhaustive  list: Acts 13:48; Romans 8:28-30; 9:11-13; 1 Thessalonians 1:4-5; 2 Thessalonians 2:13-14; 1 Peter 1:1; 2:8-10; Revelation 13:7-8. It is also clear as we read the Bible, that God has always operated in this way: from his choice of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, on down through redemptive history.

This raises several kinds of questions and many people raise objections to this teaching. Those objections usually fall into one of three categories. Some questions are philosophical and theological. They usually begin with the phrase, "How could God..." or "But doesn't the Bible also say..." Some questions are practical. These questions usually begin, "If this is true, then how do we..." or "why should we..." The third kind of questions are pastoral. These questions are more personal and deal with our own emotional response to the doctrine or what it means for those that we love who may not know Jesus. I will attempt to give some brief answers to these questions. Please know that entire books are written addressing these issues so I can only briefly touch on them.

Philosophical/Theological
Inevitably this teaching causes people to raise the question about God and humanity. Is God fair? Doesn't God love everyone and want to save them? Do human beings have free will or are we robots and puppets? The questions never seem to end, and they are good ones.

First, if we think about it, we don't really want God to be fair. If we truly had a God who was fair, none of us would have any chance of having his acceptance. We have all sinned against him. He is holy and infinite and righteous. He is ultimate Beauty and Goodness; we are not. We are weak and sinful rebels who do not love and honor him as he deserves to be loved and honored. We have sinned against an infinite God and are under his just displeasure. We have a sense of justice. When someone violates a law, we want the violator held accountable. We want that person to be fairly punished. The punishment is in keeping with the crime. That is fair. But, if God were to be fair to us, he would condemn all of us in keeping with our sins. This is the condition of the human race. We are all weak, sinful rebels who constantly violate God's standards with our hands and hearts. We do not love most what is most lovely; we do not supremely value what is supremely valuable. We are not righteous. We are under God's just displeasure and he is not obligated to forgive and save any of us. If God were to save even one, it would be the opposite of fairness, it would be grace - giving us something we do not deserve. God does this for a multitude of people; not everyone, but countless numbers of people. None deserve it. All deserve just the opposite, but God has mercy upon those whom he chooses to have mercy (Romans 9:15, 18).

But, if God chooses to save some and works in their hearts to bring about their faith and repentance (listen to the message if you missed it), then does that mean we don't make a genuine choice to come to Jesus? What does this mean for our free will? First, the words "free will" are not used in Scripture. But the concept of free will simply means that people are free to do whatever they desire to do. When Jesus says, "Whosoever comes to me..." he means "whosoever desires to come to me can freely come." The Scriptures tell us that there is a problem with our desires. Sin has so impacted our hearts that we do not naturally desire God and this Gospel of his Son that goes out into all the world. It takes a decisive work of God on the heart creating this desire so that God gives what he commands. This is why Jesus says numerous times in John 6,  “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him.”" John 6.44 ESV.

But, the objection goes, if God gives this desire does that mean that we are forced and this decision is not a real choice to come to Christ? The answer is No. We come willingly by a voluntary choice even if that voluntary and willing choice is created in our hearts by God. Grudem writes, "...the Reformed position allows for genuine human volition or human will in choices that are made, and simply says that God is so wise and powerful that he ordains that we respond willingly." (Grudem, page 680 footnote 14. ) Let's not forget that there is mystery involved; we need to savor it and not seek to conquer it. Wanting to conquer it is a result of our dislike of God possessing knowledge we don't have. It is wanting to be like God through knowledge - the very same longing that Adam and Eve fell into in the garden.       

The objection continues, if God alone can enable one to respond to the Gospel, then why are those who reject the Gospel held responsible? The response of Scripture is that God is sovereign and we are responsible for our lives and choices. He has made us with the property of responsibility. Our choices are real and we are responsible for them. Scripture continues to view human beings as genuine persons who make willing choices to receive Christ or reject him and they are responsible for these choices. In addition, Paul raises the same potential objection in the Book of Romans:

Paul does not give us a philosophical answer. He just confronts us with the fact that God is the Sovereign Creator and as his creatures, we do not sit in judgment over him and tell him how he should operate. His wisdom and power and goodness infinitely outweighs ours and we must yield our preferences of how God should act to the God who acts.

But, doesn't God love everyone and desire for all to be saved? Yes, God does love everyone. His love is made manifest in his care for the creation. And, God is grieved over the death of those who do not believe upon Christ. In Ezekiel 33:11, God clearly says he takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked. Yet, God still chooses to pass over some and not work decisively in their hearts to bring them to saving faith in Jesus. How God can pass over some and still grieve in their loss is a mystery to us, but he does. (To read more about the dimensions of God's love for his creation, read DA Carson's book, "The Difficult Doctrine of the Love of God.")

We must remember that God's ultimate aim in all he does is to bring glory to himself - to put his perfections on display for his glory and the joy of his people. Ephesians 1 makes this clear. God is working everything out after the counsel of his will to the praise of his glorious grace (1:5, 6, 11-14). So, in all God does, he is putting the glory of his grace on display so that for all eternity those who have been saved by Jesus will marvel at his grace in kindness toward them (Ephesians 2:7). They will rejoice in salvation and He will be exalted as Savior. In God's infinite wisdom, election is the best way to bring this about.

Practical
If God ordains all who will be saved, then why do we share the Gospel? The brief answer to this question is that God not only appoints the ends, he appoints the means to secure those ends. So, in 2 Thessalonians 2:13-14 the Apostle Paul writes:

This is a very important passage because it says that God chose them, brought them to himself by the working of his Holy Spirit and called them through the preaching of the Gospel. God draws us to himself by the working of his Spirit, but the instrument the Spirit uses to call us is the preaching of the Gospel. Therefore, people will not be called by God and saved by the working of his Spirit apart from the preaching of the gospel. We share the gospel with everyone everywhere and trust God to work decisively in the hearts of people to bring about a positive response to that Gospel.

We do not know who those are in whom God will work decisively, so we share with everyone. I recently read about what the great pastor of the 1800s, Charles Spurgeon used to say: "If there was a yellow stripe down the back of all of God's elect, I would walk around lifting up the back of men's shirts and preach to everyone who had a yellow stripe on his back. But God has not done that, so I preach to all men." That's all we can do. To study this issue of Divine Sovereignty and human responsibility when it comes to personal evangelism, I recommend J.I. Packer's small book Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God.

This is why we pray for God to work as well. He has chosen to accomplish his work, but he has chosen to work in response to the prayers of his people. So, God ordains that his people pray and accomplishes his ordained purposes through the ordained prayers of his people.

It is important to remember that if we really believe what the bible says about the human condition (we are sold into slavery of sin, spiritually dead, hostile to God, unable to submit to him, not seeking him, and living in bondage to our own flesh and godless influences), then apart from the decisive work of God, no one would come to trust and treasure Jesus. The fact that God has revealed that he will work in people's hearts, gives us hope that we can share the Gospel and some people will positively respond (See Acts 18:8-11).

Pastoral
Many who hear this teaching instantly begin to reflect on those they know that do not cherish this Gospel. Maybe they have loved ones that they fear "may not be chosen." Whether or not a person is "chosen" or "predestined" is not for us to worry about. The only thing God has told us to do is love people and share with them the message and mercy of Christ. God has also revealed that if they choose to reject this message, it is their willing choice to do so. They do not disbelieve against their will. It is not that they really want to believe but can't. Any who reject this gospel message do so because they willingly and voluntarily choose to do so (John 3:18-20; 5:40).

Others are concerned about the eternal destiny of an unborn child or a child who died in infancy. How does the doctrine of election play into this? The bible does not say. We have to look at that situation through the lens of the revealed character of God. We know that God is just and right and loving. His love and justice are both perfect. When it is all said done, God will be exalted as profusely and unimaginably loving and at the same time perfectly just, true, and trustworthy. We have to rest in his character that he has revealed to us in Jesus. We know that Jesus blessed the infants and said the Kingdom of God was for such as them. We have to rest in that.

Conclusion
Again, there is no way we could begin to answer all the questions and objections that this doctrine raises. It has been discussed for centuries, but we do not need to divide over it. The Gospel is simple, Christ died to save sinners and he will not reject any that come to him (John 6:35-37). We need to gather around that. That means we believe that message with all our hearts, coming to Christ for salvation and going to others sharing that same salvation. God has not given us this doctrine in the bible to cause us angst or lead us to debate. He has given us this doctrine to overwhelm us of his great love for his people. Here is the big idea: God has loved us independently of our spiritual performance. Since he has initiated a relationship with me not because of anything in me, but because of something in him, this gives me security and empowers me for mission. If he loves me and initiates a relationship with me apart from my performance, then I can love others and initiate relationships with others apart from their performance. I can freely love because I have been freely loved.

For Further Study.
Reformed View on the Issue

• Systematic Theology by Wayne Grudem
• Desiring God Ministries (the ministry of John Piper). What We Believe about the Five Points of Calvinism (http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/articles/bydate/1985/1487_what_we_believe_about_the_five_points_of_calvinism/)
• The Doctrines of Grace by Phillip Ryken and JM Boice
• Chosen By God by RC Sproul
• What is Reformed Theology? by RC Sproul.
• Divine Sovereignty and Human Responsibility by DA Carson.

• Website: Monergism.com for various works.

From a Non-Reformed Perspective

• Grace Unlimited. Ed. by Clark Pinnock
• The Grace of GodThe Grace of God and the Will of Man. Ed. by Clark Pinnock
• Why I Am Not a Calvinist by Jerry L. Walls and Joseph Dongell

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